Culture Differences Regarding Silence

Professor Kim and I have made significant process in developing our study on silence across cultures. This paper is connected to one which Professor Kim and I also wrote with some of her graduate students this summer regarding personal space across cultures. We are hoping to create a series of 3 or 4 such papers, detailing differences seen between cultures and how they can impact classroom management and student progress. Not only have we nearly completed our literature review section, which works to prepare the authors to draw conclusions from given information, but most currently, we have begun to organize our survey data.

I am very excited about this because I have never been through this process before. I am really enjoying taking the raw data, arranging it for our purposes, and appreciating the conclusions they draw. Professor Kim has been monumental in helping me to understand the ethical processes of obtaining one’s own data, and the importance of correct procedure and protecting the identities of those surveyed. Collecting data firsthand is an opportunity I have never had before, and am enjoying immensely!

As of now, though we are still in the initial stages of reviewing the surveys obtained from international and domestic students, it looks as if our data is primarily in agreement with our literature review, which is encouraging. Now, we will have to look where differences occur and determine if they are substantial enough to draw conclusions from.

As of now, the data collected has not raised any questions for me, because Prof. Kim and I are still in our first round of probing the survey records. However, I am sure that as we go on, we will naturally find inconsistencies and outliers, making it an interesting process.